But there were some things she didn’t need to know. Things that weren’t good for her to know. And this was most definitely one of those times.

I told her Elton wasn’t there, but of course he was. In fact, he was expecting me. He had been expecting me almost since I first gave him the amulet all that time ago. But without any way to contact me, he was forced to keep the jewel locked up safely in the hopes that I would come back for it someday.

The amulet wasn’t just an ordinary piece of jewelry.

Elton discovered this almost immediately. As he related to me, the stone was, “Otherworldly.” Of course, I knew this. Although, Sebastian had been reticent to say exactly what power it possessed.

Elton wasn’t as reserved.

“Thank bloody Hell you came back!” Elton excitedly dragged me through the door by my jacket sleeves, light foam forming in the corners of his mouth. “I was afraid I would have to sell the entire apartment just to be rid of it.”

“I don’t understand.” I twisted out of his vice-like grip and smoothed my jacket. “Why would you have to sell the apartment to be rid of it?”

“Well you don’t expect me to get it out of the case again do you? Bring it into the bloody daylight?” The singer fanned his face with his hands.

“Maybe you should slow down and go back a little bit. I am completely lost as to why the necklace needs to be locked away in some dark case.”

Elton perched himself on a stiff bench for half a minute before jumping to his feet again. “Now I understand why Victoria never came out in the day…it was that stone! Although why she deigned to wear it at all is much beyond me.”

“Elton…please…take a deep breath and tell me what happened with the stone.” I attempted to use a soothing tone, but his hysteria was contagious.

“Ok…ok…” He pressed his palm to his chest and drew several quick breaths followed by several more deep ones until he had calmed down. “Do you recall the day you brought me the necklace? Not the night we spoke about it, but the actual day you brought it to me?”

I nodded. “I remember the day well. It was storming, much like today.”

“Yes…as if the heavens full well knew what was about to happen. Well, of course I was delighted to have it…I’d thought about it for so many years. Ever since meeting Victoria at the chateau. Especially after writing the song about her. It was a huge hit, so of course, that kept her in the forefront of my mind for many, many years to come.

“The more I thought about her the more I realized there was something about her that defied definition. And her husband…I had my share of nightmares about that dreadful, strikingly handsome man.” Elton smiled briefly then a visible chill cut though him. “I will never in all my days forget his eyes.”

“The necklace?” I pressed.

“Yes, of course…” Elton shook his head lightly, as if dislodging the memories from some dark recess, before continuing. “You showed up here toting the necklace in a velvet bag, but of course, it wouldn’t have mattered. It was a dark day. So dark it might have been the middle of the night. There was no way to know. I had only ever seen it in the black of night.”

“What are you saying exactly?” My patience frayed just below the surface.

“I couldn’t wait to wear it. Of course, I wasn’t into the fanciful garb as much, but we were having a charity ball, and being a costume affair, I knew it would be perfect. But when I put the bloody thing on it caught the light. Just a slightest bit of sunlight, mind you…” By this time he was pacing around the room, flinching each time a flash of lightning cut through the sky.

I followed him to the window. “What happened when the light touched it?”

For the first time since I’d arrived, he stared into my eyes. Plump fingers gripped each of my shoulders. “You don’t want to know.”

A soft smile curled the corners of my mouth. “I do…I really do want to know.”

With a sobering glare he stalked down a corridor into the shadows of his palatial apartment and disappeared into another room. I considered going after him, but held my ground as the certainty of his actions set in. He didn’t want any part of the amulet. He would not let me leave until the bloody thing was tucked into my pocket.

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind, than he had returned with a flat hard shell case. With it balanced on the corner of a table, he opened the case and deposited its contents into my outstretched hands.

“Just take it and go.”

“Can you just tell me what it does?” I asked again.

Now that the amulet had left his hands, he barked out a mirthless laugh. “You want to know what it does? Wear it in the sunlight…if you dare!”